


A Few Things You Need To Know

by Guardian_of_Hope



Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, Power Rangers Wild Force, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers in Space
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-16
Updated: 2012-05-16
Packaged: 2017-11-05 11:39:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/405983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_of_Hope/pseuds/Guardian_of_Hope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So, you're now the black ranger huh? Great. There are a few things you need to know.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Black Rangers, you only think you know something about them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Few Things You Need To Know

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Men In Black](https://archiveofourown.org/works/174989) by [Guardian_of_Hope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_of_Hope/pseuds/Guardian_of_Hope). 



> This is a reboot of the original Men in Black. Beta'd by Tatooed Librarian.
> 
>  
> 
> We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.  
> ~Japanese Proverb

The teleportation stream released Zack and he shuddered slightly as he glanced around. The control room was fine when the others were here, but coming here along was a bit creepy. "Welcome, Zack," Zordon said, causing Zack to jump in surprise, and turn to looked up at him.

"What's up, Zordon?" Zack asked, trying to act as if he hadn’t been startled. It was hard to tell, but Zack wasn’t sure Zordon bought the act.

"It is a tradition that the retiring Black Ranger instructs his or her successor in the way of the Black Ranger. However, there has not been a Ranger team on Earth for a long time." Zordon replied, "I have never held the Black Power, and so I will not be giving you this instruction. Instead, I would like you to meet An'graa, the Black Ya'sera Ranger."

Zack turned to find a human stepping out from behind the viewing globe. "Greetings, Zack," An'graa said, with a bow. As he moved into the light, however, Zack realized that ‘human’ might have been not quite accurate. An’graa had pale eyes, long, purple hair, and his skin had a faint, scale like pattern to it.

"Hi," Zack replied, rubbing his hand on his pants and hesitantly offering it to An’graa, "Nice to meet you.”

An'graa smiled, seeming to not notice Zack’s hand. "Let's go for a walk, Zack. I will explain everything."

Zack glanced up at Zordon, a rush of nervousness settling in his gut, the ancient being only watched them calmly, "Right behind you." Zack said, looking back at An’graa again and dropping his hand.

An'graa led the way out of the Command Center, barely hesitating in the desert heat and bright sun, while Zack followed him. Once out of the Command Center, An’graa turned, “You’ll have to forgive me if I seemed rude. My people do not shake hands often.” He held up his hand to show black nails that were more like claws than nails. “There is venom in the nails, if we are not careful, it can be lethal.”

Zack swallowed a little, in the sunlight, An’graa looked even more snake like than he’d thought, with the scale pattern gleaming black and copper as the light poured over him. “Thank you,” he said finally, “for your consideration. If I’d known, I never would have tried.”

“It’s quite all right,” An’graa replied. “I’m well aware that this is the first your civilization has ever known of the galaxy beyond. It is why I agreed to this task when it was asked of me. Corcus of Aquitar was also willing to come, but my people live for the desert as his live for the water.”

Zack nodded a little, “I still don’t understand though, why are you here?”

“You are the Black Ranger of Earth are you not, that is your Ranger color?” An’graa asked him pointedly.

“Well yes,” Zack said, “I wear the black spandex if that’s what you mean.”

"You are the black ranger that protects Earth?" An'graa pressed.

"Yes," Zack said firmly.

An'graa nodded, "Tell me, Zack, what is your art?"

“My art?” Zack said, “I don’t paint.”

“No,” An’graa said with a slight smile, “when people think of you, what do they picture. Who are you to them, Zack? I am called the Litu’gaman, you might say ‘Sky Dancer’. My passion is flying, my art is to dance my vehicle across the sky.”

"Well," Zack said, thoughtfully, "I love to dance, and a lot of people call me a clown because I make jokes and stuff."

“That is what I mean by an art,” An’graa said with a slight smile, “you say you dance and cause others to laugh. The fool, perhaps?”

“No, I’m the clown,” Zack said firmly, “I’m not someone who acts like an idiot. I tell jokes, I dance, sometimes I mess up, but I do not invite others to laugh at me because of those mistakes.”

"Ah," An'graa nodded. "Remember that, Zack. It is important."

"Why?" Zack asked.

"Because, that is who other people must see you as, no matter what." An'graa said.

"What, who else would I be?" Zack asked. He was who he was, sometimes he acted out for fun, sometimes to protect his friends, but that’s what he did.

"A leader," An'graa said, "when your Red is gone; the fighter, when everyone else is ready to give up; the motivator, who never steps forward. That is who you are to your team.”

"Exactly who I am now," Zack said, "I do that when I need to."

"That is the role of a Black to his team. Now, to your enemies, you must be seen as the clown, or the second. They have to underestimate you." An’graa said firmly. “They must think you are a fool and an idiot, to think your jokes are your weakness, that your dance means you are not a true warrior.”

"Why's that important?" Zack asked, "I'd want them to be afraid of me." He really did, if Rita and Goldar were afraid of him then they wouldn’t try to get him alone and attack him again. Once had been enough for him.

"No, you want them afraid of your Red. You want to be the one they don't count on, the one they think succeeds by luck." An'graa corrected gently but firmly. “Red Rangers, Green Rangers, they are the ones that are noticed, because they are loud. They also give you the freedom to do what they will not, or cannot. In your daily life, you may be their distraction, but in battle, let them show off so that you might see to the winning. Understand?”

“I think I do,” Zack said as he nodded thoughtfully.

“Good,” An’graa said. “The other thing you need to know about black rangers is that we’re the social rangers. You can go to any planet with a black ranger and find a friend. We don’t prank, we don’t participate in drunken competitions, we are what we always were, the Rangers who know everything. We gossip, we chat, and we make sure those who need to know what the next big bad is up to.

“Now that,” Zack said with a grin, “I can do.”

“The Black Power would never have chosen you if you couldn’t,” An’graa told him.

“I just wish it wasn’t black,” Zack confessed, “I get enough grief because of my skin, but that it’s also my Ranger color? My mom thinks I’m going to join a gang, rob banks and do drugs, and that was before I started wearing black at every chance.”

“I forget how cut off your planet is,” An’graa said, “where I am from, we do not worry about the color of your skin, but what you do. I once met a human from Earth who was traveling. He told me that life off Earth made him think of an old quote, ‘In a world with Elves, dragons and dwarves, there is no racism. Speciesism is more interesting; black and white band together against the green.’”

Zack laughed, “Now that, I can get behind, An’graa. Thank you for coming to talk to me.”

“I’m glad I got the chance to meet you,” An’graa said.

Zack’s communicator beeped, and Zack’s easy smile faded, “I read you Zordon,” he said easily.

“Zack, Rita has unleashed a new monster,” Zordon announced.

“I guess I need to go,” Zack told An’graa, “I’ll be right there, Zordon.”

“I have to teleport from within the Command Center,” An’graa said.

“Ok,” Zack said and followed the other Ranger back into the Command Center. Jason and the others arrived as An’graa bid farewell to Zordon. Jason crossed his arms as Zack slid into his place at Jason’s left, watching as An’graa vanished in the teleportation stream.

"Who was that?" Jason asked, giving Zack an odd look.

"Just a visiting Black Ranger," Zack replied with a simple shrug. "I'm apparently well known in the local galactic arm. He wanted to make sure I knew how to contact the Network if I ever needed to and all that jazz."

Jason frowned, but couldn't voice an objection before Zordon began to explain Rita's latest plan. By the time the battle was over, Zack’s visitor was forgotten.


End file.
